CAD u37 mic not working

[Steve Grisetti]

In Audacity, you just delete the old clip when you want to record a new one.

If you're seeing a sound waveform on both the top and bottom of the clip in Audacity, then the program is recording it in stereo. It's also quite possible your microphone is a stereo mike.

The other icons and buttons in Audacity are for audio production and sweetening and for adding or enhancing the sound or effects on your recording. How deep do you want to go enhancing and sweetening your audio? I got the idea you just wanted to record and use your recordings with minimal enhancement.
http://www.freeaudacitytutorials.com/

[Chuck Engels]

We have a 3 part series on "Recording with Audacity"

http://muvipix.com/products.php?searchp ... =0&btn.y=0

[StevenG]

Thanks Steve and Chuck.
I'll have to watch the 3 part series when a get a little more spare time.
All I'm saying is that it appears a lot more convenient to be able to record with Narration. I guess I'll use Audacity for now, but I hope Adobe will correct this bug. (How do I let them know?)
Can I do ducking, so that when I add a narration (or music), the sounds on the audio track of the clip can be reduced by a specific percentage?
What about the 3-2-1 countdown on Audacity? Does it exist?

As for my involvement, I am strictly an amateur, as you can see by my skill set. Most of my work is with the still camera (still an amateur).
My video work is mostly 10-15 minute videos of my grandkids birthdays. I also put together videos of my vacations. Using iMovie, I have so far made two movies--one of 1hour 15 min, the second of 2 hours 30 minutes. I try to get them as professional as I can for a novice amateur. I am trying to put together a video of a shorter trip we took recently, but have run into the issues I have discussed here. At this point, I just want to be able to use all the features of PrE 13 with as little hassle as possible.
Steve

[Chuck Engels]

Audacity is more like recording on a tape recorder, press play and start when you are ready. You can remove any silence that you don't need by trimming the clip, either in Audacity before you export or in Premiere Elements after you import. I generally edit the audio clips in Audacity and then export when I am finished. You can also adjust the volume of the clip in Audacity as well.

[Bob]

1. I don't seem to see a 3-2-1 countdown in Audacity, which makes it a bit difficult, as the recording seems to begin instantly. Is there a countdown.

No, there is not. Recording starts as soon as you click record. After you finish recording, you can click and drag on the waveform to select the dead space at the beginning and then delete it. You can also do the same for dead space at the end.

2. There are a zillion icons on the Audacity screen. Do I need to be concerned with any of them.

For the most part, you can ignore them and use the menus or keyboard substitutes instead. They do make it easier to use the program once you know what they do though.

3. How do I re-record the Audacity clip, once it is imported into PrE 13. When using Narration, the playhead jumps to the beginning of the clip. When using Audacity, the clip is wherever I place it.

There are a several ways to do this. You could delete the clip from your PrE13 project and replace it with an entirely new recording. Another way is to cut the audio clip at the beginning and end of the section you want to redo and delete that section without closing the gap. You could then record just the revised narration and add that to the project and position it to fill the gap. You can also open the original recording in Audacity and make the changes there. You can select the portion you want to redo and use the "silence audio" function under edit > remove special (or, click on the "silence audio" icon) to eliminate it. Then, position the cursor to the location where you want to overdub and click record. A new track will be created for the new recording. When you export the file, all the tracks will mix down into a single track.

4. Also, I notice that the recording seems to be on both top and bottom of clip, which I think is a good thing, but I thought it was a monorail mic.

It is a monaural mic. You can set Audacity to record in either stereo or monaural. If set to record stereo, you will see the left and right channels for the track one over the other. The monaural mic input is being copied into both channels. This is good. PrE13 expects stereo audio tracks. If you were to add a mono clip, you would only hear the narration from one speaker. PrE13 has an effect that you can use to fill the left or right channel so you'll get sound out of both. But, this avoids the problem and you'll be able to use the clip directly.

Can I do ducking, so that when I add a narration (or music), the sounds on the audio track of the clip can be reduced by a specific percentage?

Yes, this is generally done by using keyframes for the volume property of the respective audio clips. You have the most control if you manually add the keyframes yourself. But, PrE13 does have some alternate methods that will add the keyframes for you. One is to use the audio mixer and adjust the volumes of the tracks as you listen. The other is to use the smartfix function which will attempt to analyze the foreground and background tracks and automatically add keyframes.

[StevenG]

Thanks guys!
Your responses are quite comprehensive. I'm not sure if they are over my head or not. I'll need some time to try out your suggestions, and let you know how things work out.
In all likelihood, I'll have even more questions raised by your replies.
Thanks again.
Steve

[StevenG]

Hi Chuck,
I tried to look at the 3 videos on Audacity, and see that I can only view the "Quick View". Apparently I need to subscribe in order to view the videos. Can you give me the details on that?
Thanks.
Steve

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Steve, You can get a 2 month basic subscription for $20, there are other options as well.

http://muvipix.com/subscribe.php

[StevenG]

Hi Chuck and Bob,
Chuck, thanks for the info on subscriptions.
Bob, in your last message regarding ducking, you say: "Yes, this is generally done by using keyframes for the volume property of the respective audio clips. You have the most control if you manually add the keyframes yourself. But, PrE13 does have some alternate methods that will add the keyframes for you. One is to use the audio mixer and adjust the volumes of the tracks as you listen. The other is to use the smartfix function which will attempt to analyze the foreground and background tracks and automatically add keyframes."

I am not sure how to use key frames. Actually, I don't know what key frames are. I checked out Steve's Lynda tape, but see no reference to this. I tried audio mixer, but it seems as if the entire clip gets muted. I just want to mute the portion where I am adding a narration (from Audacity) or a music track, etc. I am guessing if I do this manually, it will work. Is this so, and can you explain how I do this?
Thanks.
Steve

[Steve Grisetti]

In chapter 8 of my lynda.com course, you'll see a tutorial called "Mixing audio levels using keyframes." This video shows you have to set precise audio levels and use the "ducking" technique.

In fact, all of chapter 8 on my lynda.com course deals with keyframing and its many uses in the program. Well worth checking out!

[StevenG]

Thanks Steve!
Do not know how I missed that!!
I think I had not finished your entire film, when I got caught up with the microphone issue.
I looked at that section of chapter 8 and it is exactly what I was interested in.
Thanks again!
(By the way, do you know how I actually reach a person at Adobe, so I can complain about the usb mic issue with a Mac?)
Steve

[Chuck Engels]

Just in case anyone is interested we also have a number of Keyframing tutorials here at Muvipix
Here is a list that covers most of them;

http://muvipix.com/products.php?searchp ... =0&btn.y=0

[Steve Grisetti]

Adobe does have a tech support chat on their site.
https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/what-co ... tions.html

Although, as you can see, the free support is limited and they try to nudge you toward the Adobe peer-to-peer forums, where you may or may not find help from other users. (In fact, if you follow the Ask our Experts link, even that takes you to the peer-to-peer forum .) They used to have a phone support too, but if you still do they've buried the phone number.

And now you know why we created Muvipix -- to fill in that support gap!

As I've said, I've sent a note to the head of the Premiere Elements product development team -- but I've not heard back from him. So I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a fix. More likely it will be addressed if and when they develop version 14.

[StevenG]

Thank you for developing Muvipix! You have been a lifesaver to me!
Steven

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[Steve Grisetti]

Thanks for supporting the site, Steve! We couldn't be here is people didn't buy our books and subscriptions and spread the good word about the site.